American Sports Leagues
Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association are the three largest professional sports leagues in the United States. They are the three largest sports leagues in the world by revenue, and field players from all around the world. Every block of competition is broken into an annual season where one champion is crowned out of all competitors. For the three leagues, seasons vary greatly in terms of games played. The NFL, for instance, only plays 16 games per season per team, while the NBA plays 82, and the MLB plays 162 games per season per team. At the end of each season, the leagues culminate in a playoff where the best teams compete for that season's championshop title.
MLB
Founding
In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the Civil War, "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body, The National Association of Base Ball Players. The NABBP existed as an amateur league for 12 years. By 1867, more than 400 clubs were members. Most of the strongest clubs remained those based in the northeastern U.S. For professional baseball's founding year, MLB uses the year 1869—when the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was established. The NL and AL were formed as separate legal entities in 1876 and 1901 respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities beginning in 1903, the leagues merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000.
Teams
Today, MLB is composed of 30 teams: 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. They are divided up evenly between the American League and National League. The American League has 15 teams and the National League has 15 teams. Each of the leagues is divided into three divisions called the East, the Central, and the West.
Stats
The MLB has an average attendance of 30,042 per game per team, and has a yearly revenue of $9.5 Billion. The New York Yankees currently lead the league in championship titles with 27.
NFL
Founding
The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970.
Teams
The NFL consists of 32 clubs divided into two conferences of 16 teams in each. Each conference is divided into four divisions of four clubs in each. During the regular season, each team is allowed a maximum of 53 players on its roster; only 46 of these may be active (eligible to play) on game days. Each team can also have a 10-player practice squad separate from its main roster, but the practice squad may only be composed of players who were not active for at least nine games in any of their seasons in the league. A player can only be on a practice squad for a maximum of three seasons.
Stats
Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. The Super Bowl is among the biggest club sporting events in the world and individual Super Bowl games account for many of the most watched television programs in American history, all occupying the Nielsen's Top 5 tally of the all-time most watched U.S. television broadcasts by 2015. The NFL has a yearly revenue of $13 Billion. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots lead the NFL with 6 Super Bowl wins each.
NBA
Founding
The NBA began as the Basketball Association of America in 1946 and played under that monkier for 3 years before, in 1949, merging with the National Basketball League and changing names to the NBA. In the 1960s as the NBA was going through a growth spurt by adding new teams, a rival spring up to challenge it in the ABA (American Basketball Association). The ABA would last from 1967 until 1976 when it merged with the NBA.
Teams
The NBA originated in 1946 with 11 teams, and through a sequence of team expansions, reductions, and relocations currently consists of 30 teams. The United States is home to 29 teams and one is located in Canada. The current league organization divides thirty teams into two conferences of three divisions with five teams each. The current divisional alignment was introduced in the 2004–05 season. Reflecting the population distribution of the United States and Canada as a whole, most teams are in the eastern half of the country: thirteen teams are in the Eastern Time Zone, nine in the Central, three in the Mountain, and five in the Pacific.
Stats
The NBA has an average attendance per game of 17,884 per game per team, and has a yearly revenue of $5.2 Billion. The Boston Celtics currently lead the league in championships 17, followed closely by the Los Angeles Lakers with 16 wins.